Owen went to a Safety Town camp for one week. It's designed for kindergarten-age kids to talk about safety in the setting of a mini town. They got to drive around little "cars" on "roads", learning about stop signs and road safety. They learned their phone numbers and 911, talked about fire safety with firefighters, being safe around water, and what to do in various other situations. Owen had fun and hopefully he learned a lot about being safe!
Nathan and Jared had fun at cub scout day camp for a week. They enjoyed time with buddies and passed off several scouting requirements. Alex volunteered for 2 of the days. He got to spend one full day teaching the boys how to play Bocce ball and another as a group leader. Friday was family day - with fun things for the whole family, like popcorn, otter pops, bounce house, magician, pinwheels, games, and picnic. Savannah loved the pinwheels!
The other paid activity this summer was swimming lessons. It was Weston's first time for lessons... he didn't do so well. Of the 10 days, he cried for about 7 of them. And it wasn't just whimpering - he was wailing. "I want to get out! I want to go home!" he screamed over and over. He had snot running out of his nose, clinging to the wall, crying. I wasn't sure what to do - the teacher said to just let him cry. I couldn't believe he could cry so hard for 25 minutes straight. After about the 6th day of it, with no success in bribing or various promised rewards, I tried something different. I told him if he didn't stop crying that I would just leave. "If you want me to stay and watch you, you have to stop crying." He quieted down pretty quickly as I started to walk away. I had to keep reminding him every so often about our deal. He still didn't do what his teacher wanted him to, but at least he wasn't crying very much. He had a few moments, but was able to just be in the water without crying. The teacher even got him to smile a couple of times. He enjoyed the last day in the inner tubes.
Owen, Jared, and Nathan made good progress and are getting more confident in the water. No tears or fears from them.
The younger three were able to take lessons at the same time. Nathan was able to help me watch Savannah (while I attended to Weston...) during their afternoon session.
Nathan was only able to take lessons in the next session - but he was at 6:30pm, so we mostly were able to just leave the rest of the crew at home with Dad. (I enjoyed my time out just sitting there watching Nathan.)
Weston was smiling while in the inner tube!
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